An Iowa physician who has been deemed a high risk to the public said a state licensing board has used a "phony" competency evaluation to discipline him, the Globe Gazette reported June 5.
In March 2016, Andrew Obamwonyi, MD, an occupational and emergency medicine physician, sued in a malpractice case, and the Iowa Board of Medicine opened and closed the case the same day. According to the most recent court records cited by the Gazette, the March 2016 complaint "involved a failure to properly diagnose the patient's spinal fracture, which resulted in further harm."
A year later, according to the Gazette, the same board was informed the 2016 claim resulted in a $50,000 payout, and it reopened the case, issuing a clinical evaluation of Dr. Obamwonyi's skills.
In May 2016, Dr. Obamwonyi came under fire for allegedly failing to adequately diagnose a patient and failing to respond to the board's inquiries into the complaint. The board also cited "serious concerns" about Dr. Obamwonyi’s evaluation, testing and treatment of the second patient, which involved an ectopic pregnancy.
In April 2018, he submitted his board-ordered competency evaluation that included a multiple-choice test. That evaluation found "several serious clinical and competency deficiencies" and called for "structured, individualized education intervention."
But Dr. Obamwonyi objected to the intervention, arguing it was a "phony" evaluation of his skills, and a contested case hearing was scheduled. Dr. Obamwonyi's attorney then took the matter to court to block further action against his client, whom he referred to as "Dr. John Doe.".
Dr. Obamwonyi continued to see patients without any hindrance on his license while he awaited his contested case hearing. Attorneys for the board said "The safety and welfare of the patients Dr. Doe serves may be in question and that high risk deserves a resolution as quickly as feasible.”
Despite his attorney's efforts to block the hearing on the incompetency charge, Dr. Obamwonyi's case proceeded. In January, Dr. Obamwony's attorney filed a new lawsuit against the board seeking an order to prevent both the publishing of a final decision and imposing any discipline on his client.
Dr. Obamwonyi’s lawyer claims both of the malpractice cases were closed by the board when the intervention was issued so there is no probable cause to pursue disciplinary action.
The board responded that it has acted within its rights, and that its 2018 evaluation included a test that revealed gaps in Dr. Obamwonyi’s foundational knowledge. He "scored worse than 99 percent of other individuals that took the test," the board said, according to the Gazette.
The contested case hearing was held June 3 but a decision by the Polk County District Court has not been filed.